Buddy Tate: Sherman’s Blues-Soaked Tenor Man

Today is the birthday of Buddy Tate. He would be 114 today.

Buddy Tate’s tenor saxophone sounded like a Sunday sermon shouted over a rowdy dance floor. He grew up in Sherman, Texas, soaking up gospel and blues from an early age. Buddy Tate’s Sherman, Texas roots gave his tone a warmth that never turned soft. He joined territory bands early, learning his craft on rough Southwest bandstands. He toured relentlessly through Texas and Oklahoma dance halls before anyone knew his name. Then, in 1939, Count Basie called, and Tate answered without hesitation.

He Anchored a Legendary Band’s Toughest Chair

Tate filled the tenor chair once held by the great Herschel Evans, a daunting task. But he made it his own, adding grit where Evans had offered warmth. For nearly a decade, Tate powered the Basie orchestra’s reed section through countless recordings. His solos growled and swaggered, yet always stayed rooted in the blues. Because of that grounding, dancers trusted his band to keep them moving all night. He later left Basie and formed his own group at Harlem’s famous Celebrity Club. There, Tate led one of the longest-running house bands in jazz history. His tenor became the sound of a neighborhood, night after night, for years. His blues-soaked lineage runs parallel to the territory-band world that shaped Bob Wills further west.

Tate kept performing into his eighties, his tone never losing its Texas grit. He recorded well into the 1990s, still full of gospel fire. Younger musicians sought him out for lessons in phrasing and feel. Read more about his remarkable run via Buddy Tate. Sherman raised a saxophonist who never once stopped swinging.